seasons

Well it is official… Spring is here for sure… the Cuckoo was heard from our garden yesterday, not by me I’m afraid, not yet anyway, but it definitely marks the ticking of nature’s clock, the passing of the seasons. The cuckoo is calling, tick that box, all is well with the world!

I have to admit I love the anticipation of each seasonal landmark. The first snowdrop, the arrival of the golden daffodils, the synchronous timing of the budding of each tree, like a perfectly tuned orchestra, each player patiently awaiting it’s moment and joining the symphony at exactly the correct point in time.

My children have lived in this house all their young lives and I am charmed to see them remarking on these natural milestones too. They begin to remember their own landmarks of the passing of the seasons and ask me when a certain one will arrive. These things they have learned on their own… or more precisely, Mother Nature has taught them, tapping them gently on the shoulder to anchor the arrival of each new marvel.

We are lucky to live in the country where nature so beautifully illustrates the passage of the seasons. The hedgerow by our house, each plant revealing another milestone. A natural metronome tapping out the appearance of each… the colts foot, lesser celandine, cowslips, dandelions, herb roberts, speed-well, the flowering gorse, bird’s foot trefoil, angelica, meadow sweet, valerian. As one disappears another arrives and there is a feeling of familiarity and contentment in seeing an old friend emerging once again. Each a lovely reminder of our early years in this house, before we had children, when my husband and I would walk the lane together and he would point out the arrival of each new plant, teaching me it’s name. Now every time I see a familiar arrival I remember that special time.